Made in Jersey: Debut Ratings

Published: September 29, 2012

Last night, CBS unveiled Made in Jersey, their new Friday night TV series. Will it be a ratings success — or be cancelled after one season like last year’s A Gifted Man?

Made in Jersey follows a young female lawyer (Janet Montgomery) from a working-class New Jersey household. She uses her street smarts at an upscale New York law firm and ends up taking her bosses and co-workers by surprise. The cast also includes Kyle MacLachlan, Felix Solis, Stephanie March, Toni Trucks, Donna Murphy, Erin Cummings, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Drew Beasley, and Alexandra Socha.

Per the fast affiliate ratings, the series premiere of Made in Jersey drew a 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 7.74 million total viewers. It was tied for second place in the timeslot with a rerun of Last Resort on ABC and the season debut of Fringe on FOX.

Compared to a year ago’s return of CSI: NY, the network was down by 39% in the demo (vs a 1.8 rating) and down by 28% in viewership (vs 10.68 million).

A Gifted Man never went as low as a 1.1 in the demo and only briefly went that low in viewership. Obviously, this was not a good start for Made in Jersey. Could the numbers improve? We’ll have to wait and see.

I would love to watch “Made in Jersey” again, but can’t find it. Has it been cancelled after only one episode? That would be ridiculous. C’mon folks; give it a chance. I had the same thought as Pip – it reminded me of Legally Blonde. I like that it’s light and easy to watch, and that there’s finally something to watch on Friday night, when all they ever put on anymore is throwaway programs.

Made in Jersey was not a bad show. Like a cross between Fairly Legal and Legally Blonde. I generally don’t like lawyer shows but this was watchable, even a little enjoyable because they kept it light. We’ll keep watching since we DVR CBS for the night.